Friday, June 15, 2007

Endings

To continue with today's sermon: I just read, in the current Artforum (Summer 2007), Lynne Tillman's piece on Stephen Shore's 1973 roadtrip journal/artwork, in which he just entered the facts of the trip—photos with brief descriptions, credit card receipts, meals, etc.

More curious than Shore's goal of an objective diary is his last entry on the last page.

AUG 11 1973MIL[E]AGE: 8268BREAKFAST: GABRIELLE'S PANCAKE HOUSE,

Shore stopped after a comma. He stopped midthought. He just gave it up. [...] [H]is abruptness or falling away, his refusal to follow his routine to the last, is a mystery that recasts the entire project.

This most tentative of conclusions reminded me of Henry Darger's journal, which ended with "What will it be?—" "Darger's terminal dash now seems fraught with drama—as if he knew, all along, that his time would come," wrote someone in the PTSNBN.

1 Comments:

The Stephen Shore exhibit at the International Center of Photography is amazing, a must see. In addition to the exquisite photographs, you can see the original travel receipts plus his nightly TV viewing habits in detail.